Her costume is created through a community textile programme that brings together fabrics and embroidery from across Manchester’s global communities. Through this work, local makers and volunteers connected with international textile traditions, linking Greater Manchester’s industrial heritage with living cultural identities.
The Queen Bee was created through an international exchange between artists from Greater Manchester and Catalonia. After months of remote design, they came together for a creative residency at The Vale. This returned textile-making to a former cotton mill and completed a powerful circle of craft, culture, and place.
She is more than a puppet. She is the Queen Bee. A celebration of working people, community resilience, and the power of collective imagination. The Queen Bee draws strength from the history of the Cotton Queens, working-class women who represented pride, resilience, and community during Greater Manchester’s industrial peak. She also reflects the spirit of suffrage and labour movements shaped by women like Emmeline Pankhurst in Manchester, Teresa Claramunt and Clara Campoamor in Catalonia, and Princess Sophia Duleep Singh in India and the UK. These women challenged injustice in their streets, factories and parliaments, pushing forward the rights of women and workers through action, art and collective will.
The Queen Bee was created as part of The Worker Becomes Queen, a new commission by XTRAX for MCRxLaMerce2025 produced by Global Grooves. You can read more about The Worker Becomes Queen here.
Supported by Manchester City Council, Arts Council England and XTRAX. Funded by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), GM Arts, Oldham Council, and Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council.
